"An ignorant set of men". An episode in the clash of the legal and accounting professions over jurisdiction

Abstract

In August 1875 in a Bankruptcy matter being heard at the Summer Assizes at Bristol in England, Mr Justice Quain gave vent to his spleen over the accounting profession's increasing hold on jurisdiction over bankruptcy matters. His remarks were not necessary for the decision but he found some support from the jury and the press of the day. In making his remarks he seems to have been echoing the sentiments of the legal profession of the time. The case itself was pedestrian-but the attention of the Daily Telegraph and the rebuttals in the accounting press give some insight into the struggle by accountants for professional recognition and the clash between the accounting and legal professions over jurisdiction in the latter half of the nineteenth century.